EUROPE > Turkish-Cypriot tycoon Asil Nadir guilty of theft

Turkish-Cypriot businessman Asil Nadir arrives at the Old Bailey court in central London on August 20, 2012 as the jury deliberates on a verdict in his trail accused of theft from his firm Polly Peck International. AFP photo

Turkish-Cypriot tycoon Asil Nadir, formerly one of Britain's most notorious fugitives, was found guilty of three counts of theft by a British court on Monday.

The jury at the Old Bailey in London was still considering a further nine counts of theft after Nadir, one of the highest-profile businessmen in Britain in the 1980s, denied stealing 150 million ($235 million, 188 million euros) from his business empire.

He was cleared of one count of theft.

Nadir was arrested in 1990 after his company Polly Peck International went into administration with debts of 550 million, and he was charged with more than 60 counts of theft.

Three years later, he fled for Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, which does not have an extradition treaty with Britain.

He returned to Britain two years ago in a dramatic bid to clear his name.